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Stewart Air Force Base
Description: Stewart Air Force Base: 1940s, Orange County, Newburgh. Stewart International Airport is located almost entirely in the Town of New Windsor, Orange County, New York. The "Stewart Newburgh" designation used by the airlines is that the Stewart family gave the land to the City of Newburgh for a city airport in the 1930's. Stewart is named after Capt. Lachlan Stewart, who skippered schooners and other sailing vessels about 1850-1870. During World War II the City of Newburgh turned the airport over to the United States Government for the purposes of training West Point cadets to fly. The field grew and at the end of World War II it became Stewart Air Force Base. Stewart was used for North American Air Defense (Headquarters US Army Air Defense Command Region I) until 1972, when the Air Force determined that the base was excess, and deeded Stewart Air Force Base to the State of New York. See also SAGE for information on Air Defense Control Center, control for Suffolk BOMARCs. Now Stewart Army Sub Post of West Point, Stewart International Airport, and the New York Air National Guard has the largest C-5 Unit at Stewart. The Marine Corps also maintains a wing of C-130 aircraft at Stewart. The two military organizations occupy brand new state of the art military facilities. Stewart International Airport has 15,000 ft runway, the longest on the eastern seaboard.
County: Orange County
City, State: Newburgh, New York